I became a star last week after featuring on Problogger. Thanks to you my readers and commenters. If you haven’t read Darren’s comment on this blog that started the ball rolling start here.
You have all contibuted to a wonderful conversation. In the process I have met some great blogs.
I was pleased to see that this was a timely post for many. I am not the only one asking this question and I am happy to have inspired so many of you to write about your feelings on this topic
The opinions were many and varied as were the approaches. The majority came out just in front, in favor of following the niche approach for making money, followed by focused multiple topics within a area. Following one’s passion and blogging randomly came in third.
What follows are quotes from some comments that spoke to me.
John Wolfe:“I believe as long as you cover what you’re passionate about and you can find a way to keep it somewhat under the same umbrella, then you’ve got it.”
Corinne suggesting using my own name, currently suziecheel.com is my art site and I have been thinking about adding a blog to that site. Corinne mentioned Johnathon Fields who has also talked about this and I was interested to read that he is about to split his one blog into three. He has a must read article for all of us who are wondering which way to jump To Niche or Not to Niche with top bloggers, all expressing different points of view.
Nadia comments: Oprah talks about a lot of things but all of them linked to her strong personality and life history. This is the point that connects every subject.
Being a great Oprah fan I think this is so true, maybe I can emulate that here?
There were some approaches that I found have me thinking further about the direction for me and my blog.
Ian McKenzie comments inspired me on the focused niche approach. Read his post How Niche Blogging Increased My Earnings, on how this increased his income as well as his subscribers. This is very encouraging
Marina Martin says : I was facing the same dilemma and decided to break my different interest areas up into different blogs but to keep them all in a cohesive network, linking liberally across sites. This way people who know me (or want to know me) personally can read my personal rants on Marina’s Musings, Guinness fans can read Guinness Globetrotter, and productivity folks can read Sufficient Thrust (motivation) and Freedom From Organization (productivity tips).
Fascinating that the one topic she thought would be hard to attract readers to is the most popular? Can you guess which one? I am not sure I could maintain the numbers of blogs that she does.
This was a common point of view that threaded through the comments. Being able to maintain more than one or 2 blogs and still maintain your enthusiasm and the interest of readers.
I do like what she has done and is something I will explore as I embark today on Darren and Andy’s Course.
I am really looking forward to the course and I will report back on my progress as the course progresses, it may be here or on a new blog.
I see that today the book of the same name will be coming out later this month that Darren has written with Chris Garret
Thanks for reading and now I am off to class.
Suzie, I’m glad I could play some small part in your decision. I’ll be interested to hear how this plays out for you.
Ian McKenzie’s last blog post..How to Delegate to Save Time
Yes Ian,
I will keep you posted, I think that I love what i do here, so I will probably spi something off from this
Suzie:
Congratulations on the great exposure!
To niche or not is a hot topic, especially amongst those of us who just can’t decide when having it all sounds so good.
Finding a niche where fans already congregate and building on that is a good strategy – as Marina’s comment on your original post bears out.
Taking a look at the most popular posts and most frequent search terms may give you some clues about what you’re known for as can the types of people who join your communities.
While I can see the point that one subject might burn out your readership, people do move on and find other interests in life. For example, there’s usually a huge market for beginners in comparison to a tiny, but specialized market for advanced or high-level learners.
Thanks for convening this conversation.
Looking forward to following your progress!
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for the suggestion, I have started a list both for furure posts as well as the direction of the Highway.
My current thinking is that I will tighten this blog and talk about other stuff on another blog.
my most frequent search term is a niche looked at last year, I not sure about the $ potential of it.
You are correct about beginners, as is reflected on a comment on this post, and i wasn’t aware i write much helpful blogging stuff.
Thanks for adding to the discussion, does seem hot
You are right. I finally settled on a niche for my blog and I received more visitors now.
Previously it was just random views.
Haney’s last blog post..Swap Your Snack
You were a star before last week — The difference now is that everyone else knows it!! 😉
Ellie Walsh – Living the Law of Attraction’s last blog post..Law of Attraction Carnival #31 Posted & Next Topic….
Hi Suzie,
It’s hard to restrict yourself to one area when you have a lot of ideas. I do this in so many areas of my life. Just in relation to web sites, I have a long list of domains that I had an idea for that I haven’t developed yet.
But I’m trying to stay focused and develop and establish one project at a time before I add another.
Carla’s last blog post..Hey . . . Are You Good With Computers?
Sounds familiar re a long list of domains, now the decision kep them going, to sell or drop
One project at a time is a great idea
I have been blogging since last three months. I feel bad when I dont get good hits. Unfortunately I am very busy guy and do blogging as a hobby. Therefore dropping cards and making comments are difficult for me every day. Probably I can get a few tips form you to become famous as well. Congrats….
Alok’s last blog post..Don’t Copy if you cannot paste properly
Thanks Alok,
love the blog post title and it is also a good read, Good lucj with becoming famous
Congratulations!!! On a super blog. I’ve enjoyed reading all the
suggestions and info on finding your niche. super info, thanks for
sharing this.
Hi Rena,
it is my pleasure, keep reading to hear the next instalment in niche focus, etc. I will announce the change tomorrow and have ideas for the niche
Suzie
Hi – I just found this blog / website.
Glad to be here!
While I don’t have an “interactive” blog on my site just yet (it’s just an automated “updater” blog provided by my web host for when I update web pages), I plan to start a full blog soon.
Having a blog for a niche that you are passionate about, I’m sure, helps tremendously in being motivated to post regularly. The ultimate, of course, is to have a niche with a “broad background” – where you can bring up several topics, so you don’t run out of stuff to talk about. Of course, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a broad niche like that which they are passionate about.
Mine is about attracting the home business(es) of your dreams by using Law of Attraction principles. (LOTS of stuff [sub-niches even] to talk about in this niche! 🙂
Once I start an interactive blog, I don’t think I’ll ever run out of things to talk about. My website alone is just a little over 3 months old, and I already have nearly 40 web pages.
Thanks Bob for dropping by,
Yes this is a great niche, still to be successful I think you need to narrow your focus.
I couldn’t see where to leave a comment on your blog?
Wishing you sucess with your blog.
Suzie
Thanks Suzie –
Sorry – there is no “reply function” right now on my blog. The webhost just supplies it initially as an automated information updating system – that LOOKS like a blog – but isn’t. I think my web package allows me to “turn the blogging function on” when I’m ready, and also start a newsletter when I’m ready, so I have all that in my sights for later. Right now I’m just concentrating on web content (when I’m not at work).
I’ll definitely check back here from time to time. I’ve been studying the Law of Attraction ever since The Secret came out. I enjoy reading and commenting on it.
Bob
Belated congratulations on your exposure! You’ve come a long way in the two years we’ve known each other — great job!!
Barbara
Barbara Ling’s last blog post..Freakin? takin? it ’till it hurts and begging for more – do you have what it takes to make money online?
Thanks Barbara,
High praise, now to monetize it.like your new blogs
Doesn’t time fly:) Is it 2 years
I wholeheartedly agree if you blog you have to blog about you passions because sometimes blogging becomes such a time consuming process you need to like what you are writing about to get through it all.
Mike’s last blog post..Niche Store Writer
It all comes down to the old saying ‘do what you love and the money will follow’
I know, I know… It’s hard to do something when it’s not making you money but it seems when you’re doing something because you just flat out love doing it you do it better and with more passion. From this passion you attract ways to benefit from ‘it’ that you probably hadn’t even considered.
I think that the key is to actually focus on markets and then work from the bottom up. Most marketers look at it from the opposite view.
Leos last blog post..Why Internet Marketers and Make Money Bloggers Fail